chapter 2
"Do I really have to wear this?" I ask Hinata for the millionth time. I pull on the bottom of my shorts in an attempt to make them longer. There's something seriously wrong with whoever picked the uniforms for this school. My gym clothes consist of black booty shorts and a tight white t-shirt with the words Konoha Academy written across the chest in blue.
"That's what I thought on my first day," Hinata says. "Don't worry all of the guys only look at Sakura and her sluts of friends. The only guy you'll have to look out for is Kankuro."
"Believe me, I can handle him," I laugh as we walk out of the locker room and take a seat on the bleachers with out lunch posse. Kankuro cat whistles at me and I punch him in the arm.
"Aren't you guys excited for another youthful gym class with Gai-sensei?" Lee asks excitedly.
"Is he really worse than Lee?" I ask Tenten.
"Much worse. He's Lee's role model." She answers and I groan. The bell rings and an older looking version of Lee walks in.
"Hello my youthful students!" He shouts as I take in the green spandex and orange leg warmers. Oh Kami, this is Kakashi's rival. He told me that they used to train together before he transferred to Minato's dojo. "Today we have two new students, come up here please!" I sigh and stand up, I notice Naruto do the same and we walk to the front. "Introduce yourselves to the class!"
"Tora Namikaze," I say simply.
"I'm Naruto Namikaze! BELIEVEā¦"
"Finish that sentence and you die." I growl.
"Sorry," he apologizes.
"Ah! What youthful students! Today we will be playing basketball!" Gai yells. I perk up at those words. Basketball is my all time favorite sport! "It will be guys only." What?
"Why only guys?" I ask.
"Because girls cannot keep up with the youthful intensity of the boys!"
"Excuse me!" I say appalled.
"We wouldn't want you to break a nail, princess." The Kiba guy from history says.
"That's the most ridiculous and sexist thing I've ever heard! I could take you without even breaking a sweat." I say confidently.
"Yeah, sure you can, princess." He says sarcastically.
"Actually, dude. If there's one thing I've learned about Tora in the 10 years I've known her, it's to never underestimate her. I wouldn't doubt she could kick your ass on or off the court." Naruto says in my defense.
"Come on Gai-sensei, let me play!" I plead.
"No, I have a rule of not letting girls play contact sports with the guys." Gai says.
"I practiced with the guys basketball team at my last school! I've been hurt more times than I can count because of those guys and they've never held back. I can take it! Do you want me to go get Kakashi? He'll tell you I can take it. Hell, he never holds back when we train at the dojo, these guys are nothing compared to a master martial artist coming at you with full strength."
"You know Kakashi, my old rival?" He gasps.
"He's my sensei at the dojo I go to." I answer.
"Are you sure you want to play? I trust that if you can hold your own against him you can handle some teenage boys."
"Hell yeah!" I shout.
"Such youth!" He yells with tears streaming down his face. Well, he's an odd one. "Okay, you can play! Team captains will be Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto gets first pick since he's new."
"Awesome!" Naruto grins. "I want Tora."
"We're already gonna win," I say with a smile and we high five.
"Sasuke, your pick," Gai says.
"Kiba." He says.
"You, with the brown hair," Naruto says pointing.
"His name is Kankuro," I tell Naruto.
"Neji," Sasuke says. Neji sighs, it's obvious he doesn't like Sasuke.
"Dude with the blood red hair." Naruto says.
"Gaara," I supply.
"Chouji," Sasuke says and a chubby guy steps forward.
"Guy with the bushy eyebrows."
"That puts the pale kid on your team," I say to Sasuke.
"Alright youthful students, you have 5 minutes to assign positions and come up with a plan of action!" Gai says striking an odd pose.
My team forms a huddle. "Tora, you're point guard," Naruto says. "Bushybrows and Gaara, you're the other two guards. Kankuro, you'll be center and I'll be power forward. Got it?" We all nod.
"I'm guarding Kiba," I say, "Kid needs to learn a lesson."
"I'm fine with that, as long as I get Sasuke. Damn, jerk thinks he's better than everyone else." Naruto grumbles.
"I'll guard Neji," Gaara says, sending shivers down my spine again and I have to force myself not to look at him because I may not be able to look away.
"I will take the youthful Sai!" Lee shouts. I guess that's the pale kid's name.
"Guess that leaves me with Chouji," Kankuro smirks.
"Time's up!" Gai shouts. "Players to the court." We all walk out and Chouji and Kankuro get ready for the jump. I quickly throw my hair into a ponytail before taking my position.
"Go Tora!" I hear my new friends yell from the stands.
"Hope you're ready, princess." Kiba smirks.
"Hope you have a good doctor, smartass," I retort.
"Ready! Go!" Gai blows the whistle and throws the ball up. Kankuro manages to tip it to Gaara who passes it to me. I take off down the court towards our hoop.
"Tora, watch back!" Naruto shouts and I glance behind me to see Kiba on my tail. I make it to the 3-point line before Sai stops me.
"Tora, here!" Gaara shouts from the left wing and I pass it to him. He drives towards the basket, but gets stopped by Neji.
"Back out!" I yell and he passes it back to me.
"Come on, princess, see if you can get around me." Kiba says with a smirk. I fake left and go right, but he manages to stay on me. I quickly spin dribble into the key and pull up for a jump shot. The ball leaves my hand and swishes through the hoop.
"Nice on sis," Naruto says giving me a high five as we sprint back on defense.
"Thanks, post up next time and I'll get the ball to you." I say and he nods. I get in my defensive stance at the top of the 3-point line and wait as Kiba brings the ball down.
"Pick left!" Lee shouts as Kiba begins dribbling in that direction.
"Stay!" I say as I fight past Sai and cut off Kiba from driving to the basket.
"Kiba here!" I hear Sasuke yell and Kiba passes to him, but Naruto intercepts it. He holds it until they all get to out end of the court and throws it to me. We take our time getting down and Naruto takes his place on the right side block. I dribble to my right as Naruto posts up. I send him a bounce pass; he catches it and puts it in triple threat. He takes a second to determined where Sasuke is on his back before drop stepping towards the middle and shooting. The ball bounces off the backboard and goes in.
"Nice shot!" I say and slap him on the back. We run back on defense and wait for Sasuke to pass the ball in to Kiba. Kiba takes his time getting down here. Just as he reaches me he fakes right and goes left, but I keep up with him.
"Kiba!" Neji yells and Kiba chest passes it to him. Gaara intercepts and I sprint down court for a fast break.
"Gaara!" I shout and he launches the ball at me. I catch it and take off. Kiba's right next to me, but I don't stop. As I near the basket Kiba gets slightly in front of me. I go up for a lay-up and slam into Kiba's body. We tumble to the ground and my forehead smacks painfully against the ground.
"Tora! Are you okay?" Naruto asks as he runs over.
"I'm fine," I groan and roll onto my back.
"Tora you're bleeding!" He says with wide eyes.
"I am?" I ask and reach up to touch my head and my hand comes away red. "How bad is it?"
"Pretty bad, you should get to the nurse." He answers. "Gai-sensei, Tora's bleeding!"
"What? My youthful student is bleeding out her blood of youth! Naruto, take her to the nurse!" Gai yells.
"I would, but I, uh, don't know the way," Naruto says laughing in embarrassment.
"I'll take her," Gaara says blandly and holds out his hand to help me up. My heartbeat picks up as I reach up to take it. When our hands meet a spark of electricity goes through my hand and travels up my arm. I let go of his hand as soon as I'm up and blush.
"Come on," he says and we walk out of the gym. "You're pretty good at basketball."
"Thanks," I say and turn to hide the stupid blush on my face. "It's partially the reason why I'm able to attend here. Half of my tuition is paid for with a sports scholarship for basketball. The other half is academic. You're not so bad yourself."
"Thanks." He says emotionlessly. "So, how do you like it here?" He doesn't sound interested in our conversation at all. He's probably just asking to be polite.
"It's pretty cool here and I'm enjoying it. I'll admit that I thought all of you would act like spoiled rich brats, like Sasuke and Sakura. But you're not all that bad." I laugh nervously. Why do I feel so nervous around him? Kami, I need to get ahold of myself! I feel the blood start to drip down my face, as I get lightheaded. I stop and grab the railing for support.
"Are you okay?" Gaara asks and I think I see a spark of concern in his beautiful eyes, but I'm probably just imagining it. Wait, did I just say beautiful eyes? What the fuck, Tora! What's wrong with you?
"I'm fine," I say taking a deep breath. Black spots dance in my vision and the room starts to sway. "Or not." I mutter before I fall into the darkness.
Gaara's POV
"Are you okay?" I ask Tora in concern.
"I'm fine," she says. I notice her eyes glaze over and her body starts to sway. "Or not."
I just barely manage to catch her before she falls down the stairs. I pick her up bridal style and can help but notice how beautiful she is. With her angular features, high cheekbones, and plump lips that I wish I could kiss.
Whoa! What the hell is wrong with me? I've never thought that before. Heat rises to my face and I'm thankful she's asleep. Then I remember she passed out and is losing blood.
I sprint the rest of the way to the nurse's office. Once there I kick the door as a way of knocking. The shorthaired nurse, Shizune, opens the door and her eyes widen when she see's Tora unconscious in my arms.
"Oh my! What happened? Get her in here, quickly!" She exclaims. I walk in and gently lay Tora on the bed. "Have a seat." The nurse points to a chair next to the bed and starts cleaning Tora's cut. "What happened? She didn't get in a fight, did she?"
"It wasn't a fight. We were playing basketball in gym and when she went up for a lay-up she smacked into the guy defending her. They fell to the ground and her head hit the floor and split open. We were on the stairs when she passed out and I carried her the rest of the way here," I explain.
"I thought Gai only let guys play basketball in gym." Shizune mutters.
"She said it was sexist and insisted she could handle playing with the guys. At first Gai-sensei said no, but she argued it and he eventually said yes." I say.
"That's exactly what I would expect her to do," she chuckles.
"You know her?"
"Her adoptive parents are friends of mine." She answers as she finishes putting a bandage on Tora's head. "Can you do me a favor and stay with her while I run and get some food for her when she wakes up."
"No problem," I say and Shizune leaves the room. I reach out and absent-mindedly move a few pieces of hair that escaped from her ponytail, behind her ear. My hand moves of it's own accord and travels down to caress her cheek. She looks like an angel with her dark hair spread out behind her head.
She begins to stir and I hastily pull my hand back and act as if nothing had happened. Her onyx eyes flutter open and gaze into mine and I feel as if she's looking into my soul. I realize I'm staring and quickly look away blushing.
"Where are we?" She asks.
"The nurse's office," I answer. "I carried you here after you passed out."
"Thanks, I'm starving though. You wouldn't happen to have any food, would you?"
"The nurse went to get you some." I say as the door opens and Shizune walks in with some instant ramen.
"Oh! You're up! How do you feel?" Shizune asks.
"Perfectly fine!" Tora says brightly. "Just a little hungry."
"I knew you would be," she says handing Tora the ramen. "You can go back to class now Gaara. I'll give you a pass."
I silently stand up and get my pass. "Hey Gaara." Tora says as I walk out the door. "Thanks for, um, helping me."
"It was nothing," I say without turning around so she wouldn't see the blush on my face and go back to gym.
Tora's POV
"Hey Gaara," I say just before he walks out the door. "Thanks for, um, helping me." I feel blood rise to my cheeks.
"It was nothing," he says emotionlessly without turning around and walks out the door. There's a sting in my heart and I have no idea what it is. Is it because he brushed me off so easily?
I eat my ramen in silence. Why does he affect me so much? I mean I just met him. But for some reason I feel drawn to him, like we're the same or something. I hear the bell ring and stand up.
"What are you doing?" Asks Shizune looking up from her paperwork.
"Going to class," I say in a duh voice.
"Are you sure you're okay to go?"
"I'll be fine," I say brushing off her concern.
"If you say so," she says skeptically. "If you feel dizzy at any time, come back."
"Don't worry Shizune. You of all people should know that I heal quickly." I smile and leave to go to Kakashi's room for study hall. Once I get there I'm tackled by Hinata.
"Are you okay?" She asks letting go of me.
"Yeah, it was just a scratch." I answer.
"Gaara said you passed out!" Temari exclaims. "How the hell can you be alright?"
"And that was a lot of blood for 'just a scratch'," Neji says.
"I'm a fast healer," I shrug.
"That you are," Kakashi says from behind me.
"I wouldn't be able to survive your training if I wasn't," I say back.
"Just remember that just because you're hurt, you're not exempt from training tonight."
"I know," I sigh. "If I want to survive this next mission I can't afford not to train."
"Mission?" Hinata asks.
"Did I say mission? I meant competition." I say quickly covering up the mistake.
"Oh." She says.
"Anyways, did Shizune tell you parents you got hurt?" Kakashi asks.
"No way! If Kushina found out she would have pull me out of this school faster than you could blink!"
"I'll text Minato," he sighs, "And him not to tell Kushina."
"Thanks Kakashi."
"Now take a seat and be quiet."
I walk to the back and sit down with Hinata, Temari, and Neji. I pull out my phone and send Kushina a quick text.
Me: Can I hand with Itachi after school?
Kushina: Why?
Me: His friends want to meet me.
Kushina: Where are you going?
Me: The mall.
Kushina: I guess. Just be home in time for dinner at 5 and training.
Me: I will. Love you.
Kushina: Love you too.
I send a text to Itachi telling him that Kushina said I could go and look at the time. Ugh, there's still 30 minutes left. I pull out my sketchbook and begin to sketch a basic design for our catapult. By the time I finish the bell rings and Temari's leading me to our next class.
When we get to the door we run into Naruto and Kiba. "Are you okay?" Naruto asks while giving me a hug. "I was so worried about you! They didn't call Mom did they? Kami, she's gonna flip when she finds out!"
"I know, it's a good thing I only have to deal with it for dinner," I laugh.
"Hey, um, Tora," Kiba starts. "I'm sorry about what happened in gym." He hangs his head and his eyes are downcast towards the floor.
"Don't worry about it. I should have known you would beat me there and pulled back. So it's my fault really." I say.
"So, I'm forgiven?" He asks hopefully.
"Yup."
"Awesome. Now on a completely different subject, you're amazing at basketball!" He exclaims.
"You're not so bad yourself," I reply as we walk into class. A man with long brown hair in a ponytail and a scar across his nose greets us.
"You two must be the new students," he says warmly. "I'm Iruka-sensei."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Tora," I say with a smile.
"And I'm Naruto!" Naruto shouts.
"I see you two have already made some friends, so I'll allow you to sit by them and once everyone's here I'll introduce you to the class."
"Okay Iruka-sensei," I say and Temari drags me to the back of the room and I sit next to her. We chat for a while until the bell rings.
"Okay class!" Iruka says getting our attention. "We have two new students today. They're Tora and Naruto." Naruto and I stand up and everyone stares at the white patch on my forehead that's covering my cut.
"Aw look, it's the commoners," Pinky sneers. "And one of them's hurt. I mean we all know she did it just for attention." The class snickers and my jaw clenches and I begin to do something extremely stupid when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look back and see Naruto.
"She's not worth it, sis. And besides Kakashi'll make your training hell tonight it you do that. Not to mention Mom and Dad will kill you." For someone with a tendency to say stupid things, Naruto can be pretty wise when he wants to be.
"You're right. Thanks." I say sitting down.
"No response?" Pinky asks. "Must be too scared."
"Sakura! That's enough!" Iruka yells at her.
"Scared? Of you? No," I laugh. "I'm scared of Kakashi's training and my mother's wrath!"
"Tora!" Iruka says sharply.
"Sorry Iruka-sensei."
"Now that that's over, turn to page 578 in your literature books. Today we'll be reading Romeo and Juliet." He says and everyone groans. This class decides that it's going to be the longest one yet. I'm almost asleep by the time the bell rings. I grab my stuff and make my way outside.
"Hey Tora," Itachi says walking next to me.
"Hey."
"So, we were all just going to ride to the mall together and I came to get you."
"What about my bike?" I ask.
"Tora!" Naruto yells running up to us. "Hey Itachi."
"Hey," he says.
"What do you want?" I ask.
"Um, funny story," he laughs. "So the guys have practice after school and I don't have a ride home."
"Here," I say tossing my keys to him. "I'm riding with Itachi to the mall so you can take my bike. It's parked next to a hideous pink Charger. Just don't crash it."
"Thanks sis!" He calls over his shoulder and runs away.
"No problem," I call back. "So, where's our ride?"
"Right here," Itachi says as a black limo drives up next to us.
"A limo?" I ask raising an eyebrow.
"It's Pein's, he's kind of like the leader of our group. It's his own personal limo and it's normally what we take to go places."
"Damn rich kids," I mutter. Itachi just laughs as he gets in. I hesitate on the sidewalk for a second. I have a strange feeling we wont be going to the mall I usually hang out at. I take a deep breath and go into the dark limo. Before I can get a look at anything something is pull over my head blocking my vision. What the fuck did I get myself into?
Thanks for anyone who reads this! Hope you like this new chapter. I have big plans for this story so please Follow and Review
Enjoy
~C.S.
